diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx4/en_netdev.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx4/en_netdev.c
index 0f6225c042be..9bf7320107b0 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx4/en_netdev.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx4/en_netdev.c
@@ -2747,8 +2747,11 @@ static int mlx4_xdp_set(struct net_device *dev, struct bpf_prog *prog)
 	}
 
 	err = mlx4_en_try_alloc_resources(priv, tmp, &new_prof);
-	if (err)
+	if (err) {
+		if (prog)
+			bpf_prog_sub(prog, priv->rx_ring_num - 1);
 		goto unlock_out;
+	}
 
 	if (priv->port_up) {
 		port_up = 1;
diff --git a/include/linux/bpf.h b/include/linux/bpf.h
index edcd96ded8aa..01c1487277b2 100644
--- a/include/linux/bpf.h
+++ b/include/linux/bpf.h
@@ -234,6 +234,7 @@ void bpf_register_map_type(struct bpf_map_type_list *tl);
 struct bpf_prog *bpf_prog_get(u32 ufd);
 struct bpf_prog *bpf_prog_get_type(u32 ufd, enum bpf_prog_type type);
 struct bpf_prog *bpf_prog_add(struct bpf_prog *prog, int i);
+void bpf_prog_sub(struct bpf_prog *prog, int i);
 struct bpf_prog *bpf_prog_inc(struct bpf_prog *prog);
 void bpf_prog_put(struct bpf_prog *prog);
 
@@ -303,6 +304,10 @@ static inline struct bpf_prog *bpf_prog_add(struct bpf_prog *prog, int i)
 	return ERR_PTR(-EOPNOTSUPP);
 }
 
+static inline void bpf_prog_sub(struct bpf_prog *prog, int i)
+{
+}
+
 static inline void bpf_prog_put(struct bpf_prog *prog)
 {
 }
diff --git a/kernel/bpf/syscall.c b/kernel/bpf/syscall.c
index 228f962447a5..23eb2050f15e 100644
--- a/kernel/bpf/syscall.c
+++ b/kernel/bpf/syscall.c
@@ -680,6 +680,17 @@ struct bpf_prog *bpf_prog_add(struct bpf_prog *prog, int i)
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(bpf_prog_add);
 
+void bpf_prog_sub(struct bpf_prog *prog, int i)
+{
+	/* Only to be used for undoing previous bpf_prog_add() in some
+	 * error path. We still know that another entity in our call
+	 * path holds a reference to the program, thus atomic_sub() can
+	 * be safely used in such cases!
+	 */
+	WARN_ON(atomic_sub_return(i, &prog->aux->refcnt) == 0);
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(bpf_prog_sub);
+
 struct bpf_prog *bpf_prog_inc(struct bpf_prog *prog)
 {
 	return bpf_prog_add(prog, 1);